Trailspace Blog June 2007
MSR Reactor: Delayed or Vaporware?
Since it debuted at last summer’s Outdoor Retailer trade show, the MSR Reactor Stove System has generated a lot of buzz—facing off against other stoves, winning awards, and getting lots of media coverage in the bargain.
MSR has called the Reactor “the fastest-boiling, most fuel-efficient windproof stove system available.” Trouble is, except for a few prototypes used by gear testers (including Trailspace), the Reactor has yet to be available. This has made a few of us wonder if the much-anticipated Reactor would instead turn out to be vaporware.
First, the Reactor was slated for availability April of 2007. Then it was spring 2007. Today MSR issued a statement formally announcing a delay in the Reactor’s release. Up until today we’d been told the Reactor was in the final stages of MSR's “quality assurance validation” process. However, it seems its release has been held up due to some stoves producing higher than desired levels of carbon monoxide in a combustion test. (Read the statement>>)
This time around MSR is not giving an availability date for the Reactor. So, we’ll just have to wait to see if the actual product lives up to its hype, if and when it reaches shelves.
Kids Need Nature
Kids need nature. If you don’t believe me read Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. In the year since I’ve read Louv’s book on the phenomenon of nature-deficit-disorder I’ve become one of his many alarmed disciples, urging others to get their kids out into nature and to give them plenty of time to explore and reconnect with the natural world, before there’s nothing left with which to connect.
In addition to the obvious joys of outdoor recreation, the benefits of being outside are quite tangible. Kids who spend regular, unstructured play time outdoors are mentally and physically healthier, fitter, less stressed, more creative, and more respectful of the environment, themselves, and others.
Sound good to you? Then read “Hiking and Backpacking with Kids” and “Getting Kids Geared Up for Outside” in the Trailspace Gear Guide for help getting your family out on the trail.
If you’re feeling inspired, but not sure where to start, try the annual Great American Backyard Campout, this Saturday, June 23, for a chance to discover the fun of camping. Or visit the National Wildlife Federation’s greenhour.org for year round outdoor ideas and activities for all ages and experience levels.
Hiking Icon Colin Fletcher Dies at 85
From the June 16, 2007, Los Angeles Times:
Colin Fletcher, who was considered the father of modern backpacking for his lyrical and practical writings on hiking, including The Complete Walker and The Man Who Walked Through Time, books that inspired generations to journey into the wilderness, died Tuesday in Monterey, Calif. He was 85.
Fletcher, who was hit by a car as he crossed a rural road near his house in 2001, died at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula of complications related to old age and injuries suffered from that accident, said Chris Cassidy, a business associate.
Anker and Houlding Free Climb Second Step
Last month we covered climbers Conrad Anker and Leo Houlding’s Altitude Everest Expedition. The team has been retracing the last journey of George Mallory and Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine to see if the men could have been the first to climb Everest. Anker and Houlding also have been testing 1924 replica clothing on the mountain and planned to free climb the 100-foot Second Step, which has been the crux of the did-they-or-didn't-they-summit debate.
Well, early this morning Anker and Houlding free climbed the Second Step and went on to summit the mountain. The expedition team removed the ladder which was bolted to the Second Step, allowing Anker and Houlding to confront the Second Step as Mallory and Irvine might have done 83 years ago.
According to the Expedition Diary Anker said of the step, “that was hard!”
It’s an Honor Just to be Nominated
Today I found out that Trailspace was nominated to win a Best of the Web Award from Maine’s Software and Information Technology Industry Association. The awards will be presented next Friday night at the Geeks In Black Technology Awards Gala in Portland.
For anyone wondering, I was not in the least offended by the possibility of being publicly honored as a geek. Or maybe it’s honored by geeks. Either way, I was far too easily flattered by the whole thing because it meant that someone nominated Trailspace for an award. That means that someone out there likes our site enough to fill out an award entry form on our behalf. So a big “thank you” to you, whomever you are!
While I know that thousands of different computers visit Trailspace every day—to view gear reviews and product info and submit gear reviews and forum posts—and that presumably most of those computers are being used by real live people somewhere, writing and publishing for the web can feel like working in a vacuum. There’s not a lot of personal feedback once you post an article or spend days reorganizing the product database. Sometimes I wonder if anyone beyond my mother will ever read something I wrote (hi, Mom!).
So when real people, especially people not related to me, talk to me (or call or e-mail) about Trailspace and what they enjoyed or found useful, it’s very exciting. And when someone recommends us for a “Best of the Web Award,” well honestly, it’s an honor just to be nominated.
As for the geeks gala, Dave and I are headed out on a backpacking trip next week. So whether or not we’re award finalists, we won’t be paying $79 a head to wear black tie next Friday night. Instead we will be in our new TarpTent in the woods of western Maine, eating rehydrated mac and cheese and chocolate bars. Sounds like a winning night to me!
National Trails Day Tomorrow
Tomorrow, June 2, is National Trails Day. Celebrate trails and the outdoors by participating in a trail work project, hike, workshop, or other event. You can search more than 1,000 events taking place in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Canada on the American Hiking Society's site to find one near you.
So get outside and help maintain your favorite trail by cutting blowdown and building water bars, discover a new trail on a guided hike, learn how to identify birds, or introduce a child or friend to the joys of hiking. You couldn't ask for a better excuse to get outside.
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